Drones were recently used to inspect all 264 blades across the 88 wind turbines of the Sheringham Shoal offshore wind farm, located off the coast of England.
Sheringham Shoal, operated by Statoil, partnered with Martek Aviation to carry out the inspections in August. Each of the 200 flights took about 8 minutes each, allowing Statoil to assess the condition of its assets on-site.
The 317 MW offshore wind farm, covering an area of approximately 22 square miles, is situated off the coast of North Norfolk. Each of the 3.6 MW turbines has a blade length of 170 feet and a tower height of 262 feet.
According to Dale Symonds, senior engineer at Statoil for Sheringham Shoal, the drone inspections allowed the company to “perform excellent quality inspections on all
turbine blades” and be “more efficient, safe and profitable.”
